October, 2004 - British Shell Collectors' Club

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Page 12PALLIDULAThe Howletts’ Shell Weekend 2004by Peter TopleyThe weekend of 19 th to 20 th June this year saw Derek and Daphne Howlett open their house in the small villageof Rockland St Mary once more for a “Shellers’ Get-together”. For those of us who attended many thanks aredue to Derek and Daphne for their generous supply of food and drink, and arrangement of local accommodationfor those travelling from a distance, which helped the weekend go smoothly. Shells that had been brought forsale or exchange were laid out in a large gazebo and in a summer house in the garden. The day was also anopportunity for both new and longstanding members to meet togetheraway from the more serious bustle of the Club Convention or ShellShow. Personally I valued the time to meet with other members andshare something of our thoughts and interests in the world of shells,where however much a beginner or an expert you may be in aparticular field, there is always something new to be discovered. Wewere also able to view Derek’s collection, which spans the whole worldof shells but in particular demonstrates his interest in land andfreshwater mollusca.On the Saturday afternoon those of us who had expressed an interestwere taken by Derek to the local Ted Ellis Nature reserve at WheatfenBroad. Former home of the well known East Anglian naturalist Ted Ellis until his death in 1986, the Ted Ellistrust was founded to preserve one of the few remaining areas of the once extensive Yare Valley swamp. This isa strange primitive area recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is one of the last tidal marshes ofthe Yare Valley. The reserve consists of open fen, reed beds, sallow carr and the small broads Wheatfen andDeep Waters. On arrival the party was split. The first group were given a guided walk around the reserve bywarden David Nobbs, partly in the hope of viewing the Swallowtail butterflies which can be seen if theconditions are right. Unfortunately this was not the case on the day which was overcast with some heavyshowers; but David made the walk enjoyable and interesting for those who attended.A second smaller group accompanied Derek along a flooded path which decided to amply demonstrate to usthe tidal nature of the fen! After donning life jackets we boarded a small flat-bottomed boat amongst the reeds,together with our collecting nets, dredge and containers. Many of the stems of the plants above water levelheld one or more actively crawling Amber Snails (Succinidae), brought out by the high tide and damp weather.Along the edge of the channels near Wheatfen broad we took samples of water plants, washing through ontrays to look for freshwater gastropods. Samples of bottom mud were also taken and sieved. Unfortunatelyamongst the shells found was a juvenile of the invasive alien Japanese freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea(Müller,1774) This was the first record within the reserve of this species, which is able completely to cover thesurface of the mud to the exclusion of native freshwater mussel species and is rapidly spreading through muchof the Broads system in Norfolk. We continued out into Rockland Broad, accompanied by the song of a nearbyCetti’s Warbler. Here we were able to carry out dredging along the sides of this quite shallow waterway andsamples of the larger freshwater mussels were taken including Unio pictorum (L.,1758), Anodonta cygnea(L.1758), A. anatina (L.,1758) and the local and rarer Compressed River Mussel Pseudanodonta complanata(Rossmassler, 1835) together with more (adult) C. fluminea. Fine sieving of mud samples also revealed thepresence of the small Pea Mussel Pisidium henslowanum (Sheppard, 1823), only identifiable later by the use ofa microscope and Derek’s expert eye!The remainder of the weekend consisted of specimen sorting, cleaning and identifying, as well as more time todiscuss such subjects as the intricacies of variation in cowries, that next shell show in Florida orrecommendations of economical storage systems for shells. Many thanks again to Derek and Daphne formaking this event such an enjoyable one for all involved.Species ListBithynia tentaculata (Linnaeus, 1758)Bithynia leachii (Sheppard, 1823)Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gray,1840)Viviparus viviparus (Linnaeus, 1758)Lymnaea stagnalis (Linnaeus, 1758)Lymnaea auricularia (Linnaeus, 1758)Lymnaea peregra (Müller, 1774)Planorbis planorbis (Linnaeus, 1758)Anisus vortex (Linnaeus. 1758)Gyraulis albus (Müller, 1774)Acroloxus lacustris (Linnaeus, 1758)Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758)Anodonta cygnea (Linnaeus. 1758)Pseudanodonta complanata (Rossmassler, 1835)Unio pictorum (Linnaeus. 1758)Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1774)Sphaerium corneum (Linnaeus, 1758)Musculum corneum (Linnaeus, 1758)Pisidium henslowanum (Sheppard, 1823)
PALLIDULA Page 13BOOK REVIEWby Kevin BrownCatalog of Dealers’ Prices for Shells, Marine, Land & Freshwateredited by Tom Rice, 21 s Edition 2004. U.S. $ 25.00. RingboundFamiliarly known as “Rice’s Prices” this annual publication has long been an invaluable aid to theshell collector. I have regularly recommended it both as a standard source of values, and as a quickand handy reference for authors and dates of description which are so often omitted from popularidentification guides.As with previous editions this book gives the values of thousands of species based on dozens of U.S.Dealers’ lists issued in the previous year.In the introduction to this latest edition the Editor writes “This new edition of our catalogue is arrivingnearly a year later than originally planned. We decided that in order to issue both a printed and a CDversion we would have to change the format and re-enter all the data……”. Given that these changesconsiderably alter this familiar work, I felt that a full review might be useful to readers even though thisis a new edition rather than a totally new publication. The following comments all refer to the printededition rather than the CD – which I have not seen; indeed I have not yet seen the CD offered forsale.The bulk of the text is now divided into five columns: Genus, alphabetically listed; Species,alphabetically listed within Genus; Author; Date of description and Value (in U.S. $). Unlike previouseditions there is no space between the various Genera, marking this more like reading a telephonedirectory. Space within each column is limited so that longer names are sometimes cut short, forexample Benthoclione (sic) instead of Benthoclionella; this is more common at the start of the book,later the problem is overcome by simply using a smaller type face, although reducing an alreadysmall print may in itself cause problems for some readers. In the entry for Strombus depauperatus,the Author Dautzenberg & Bouge are printed in a space of thirteen mm by less than 1mm highThere is another noticeable change in format part way through the text. At the start each Genusfollows on without any preliminary entry. From Gafrarium to Galegna each Genus entry commencesin the format “Gafrarium (Veneridae) Roding 1798” – indicating the Family together with Author Datefor the Genus. From Gemma onwards the Family is again omitted although Author and Date of theGenus are given. To change format part way through the book suggests that the contents were notthought through sufficiently before starting. I regret the omission of the Family from the Genus entrieswhich can be helpful where Generic names are similar. Nassa, Nassaria, Nassarina and Nassariuscan easily confuse – particularly for less experienced collectors but Nassa (Muricidae), Nassaria(Buccinidae), Nassarina (Columbelllidae) and Nassarius (Nassariidae) immediately sorts out anyproblems. Hopefully Author and Dates of the Genera can be consistently given throughout in thenext edition.It is understandable that errors should creep in especially given the large amount of data which hasbeen re-entered for the new format. However there are far too many errors in this edition. To give afew examples; Ovula ovum is valued at $33.00 - $5.00 obviously $3.00 - $5.00 but less easy to spotif the entry had just read $33.00. Strombina monfilsi Emerson 19993 (sinc) – again obviously 1993,but finding five entries like this in three pages does not give confidence. Simple spelling mistakesabound but how did Mitra ,e;omgema (sic!) ever pass proof reading? – in case you wonder thisshould read Mitra melongena, though I had to check the alphabetical listings in a previous edition towork this out. I was also puzzled as to why the Genus Paraphanta (sic) appeared after Partulinabefore I twigged that the spelling should be Paryphanta and that all 25 entries for the Genus areincorrectly given.In previous editions many Genera had cross references to related Genera – thus Ancilla referred youto Alcospira, Amalda and Baryspira. Very useful where dealers may place a species in several
Page 1 and 2: VOL.34 • NO.2 • • OCTOBER 2OO
Page 3: PALLIDULA Page 3The Beaches of Sout
Page 7 and 8: PALLIDULA Page 7Beautiful burgundy
Page 9 and 10: PALLIDULA Page 9Day 1 - Daymer BayA
Page 11: PALLIDULA Page 11PETER COKE’S SHE
Page 15: PALLIDULA Page 15A NEW FORM OF LEPO

October, 2004 - British Shell Collectors' Club

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